ORR serves many vulnerable new Americans, including refugees and asylees. ORR is also responsible for providing care to the growing number of unaccompanied children fleeing violence in Central America and seeking safety in the United States. As the number of children arriving has exceeded projections, ORR has addressed its budget shortfall by reprogramming $94 million from refugee services to serve these children. Refugee services are already underfunded, and these cuts are having devastating consequences for refugees and their communities. We urge Congress to act quickly to approve the increased funding requested for ORR, and to make clear that funding for refugee services should not be programmed or reduced — not this year, and not in the future.

We urge Congress to provide more funds to the Department of Justice to increase legal services for unaccompanied children in the United States. We are also deeply concerned that the President seeks to expand the detention of families, allowing the government to detain more than 6,000 members of families. LIRS stands ready to work constructively with the government to develop humane and appropriate alternatives to incarcerating families.

CONTACT your Representative and Senators by calling the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121, or finding their direct office lines on their websites at www.house.gov and www.senate.gov. Tell them:

As your constituent in [city, state], I care about refugees, unaccompanied children and other vulnerable populations.

I urge you to support the $1.83 billion increase for the Office of Refugee Resettlement, requested in the President’s Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Request for Fiscal Year 2014. The U.S. must show leadership by protecting unaccompanied children while maintaining our commitment to refugee resettlement.

The Department of Justice also must receive funding sufficient to provide children with access to legal services.

I am also deeply opposed to incarcerating children and families who have arrived at our borders seeking refuge.

I urge you to oppose any changes to the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008—children fleeing violence and seeking refuge deserve compassionate treatment, not detention, and meaningful access to protection and legal relief.

MEET with your Representative and Senators and their local staff. A toolkit for meeting with your Members of Congress can be found at rcusa.org/wrd2014. The LIRS DC office is available to help you strategize about meeting with your Members of Congress and their staff. Send us an email at DC@lirs.org

WRITE your Representative and Senators. You can view sample letters and take action online through the LIRS Action Center.

Comments

We must take care of the vulnerable ones in our world, Children who are escaping murder and the ordeal of torture must be given safe haven. They must be terrified and tired. Give them hope and a future

I noticed you did not post my recent comment, but I will try again. LIRS gets most of their money from the federal government and benefits by labeling these “children” as refugees, which they are not. 97% of LIRS’ budget comes from taxpayers, so this is not a Lutheran charitable organization in the usual sense. Hartke makes over $200,000. Don’t fall for this, Lutherans. LIRS is a federal contractor and just wants billions of dollars more via these “kids” who should be returned home to their families.